By Eugene Bawelle
There’s obvious reason for which Dr Bawumia cannot answer any of the questions President Mahama posed to him on the economy. And who could have imagined that today, Dr Bawumia can run away from issues on the macroeconomy.
The reason is that our current macroeconomic data will not support any position that Dr Bawumia has been a good manager of the economy. He has woefully failed on the things he made us believe he was good at.
As at the end of September 2024, inflation stood at 20.4%, up from the 15.8% Mahama left it in 2016. Indeed, at a point in 2022, inflation went as high as 54%, the highest since 1995.
Ghana’s total public debt stood at 761.2 billion cedis in September 2024, an increase of more than GHS 641 billion from the 120.1 billion Mahama left it in 2016.
The exchange rate is perhaps the biggest indicator which has exposed Dr Bawumia as Head of the Economic Management Team. Today, one needs in excess of 17 cedis to get a dollar. Under Mahama, you needed 4.2 cedis to get a dollar in 2016. Indeed, analysts have maintained that the dollar would have sold for not less than 25 cedis to a dollar if Ghana were paying its external debts which we’ve defaulted on since 2022.
Other indicators such as the capital expenditure as a percentage of GDP, gross international reserves, balance of payments as a percentage of GDP, monetary policy rate, average lending rate etc have all pointed to a worrying performance under Dr Mahamud Bawumia.
African economic strategist, sovereign risk analyst, and public intellectual. Author of Pricing Uncertainty. Creator of the Africa Macro Intelligence Terminal.